How to find your perfect coliving – 4 questions to ask yourself
9 February 2024
5 reasons why to choose a RURAL coliving
Tucked away inland, outside of cities and away from tourist attractions. This is where you find Rural colivings. You might ask yourself: If I can be anywhere I want, why on earth would I want to go there? Well, have a read through the following article and you might just change your mind about it...
1.) Health
Stress, anxiety, lack of fresh air and movement,… these are all common problems we are facing nowadays. A lot is due to our fast paced lifestyles and our environment. Now moving to the countryside is not magically going to cure you. But choosing a rural coliving will definitely help you ground and relax. It will give your nervous system a break from all the over stimulation. It’s a great opportunity for a physical and mental detox. A place to reconnect with yourself, others and nature. You will naturally spend more time outdoors and in movement, get more sunlight, fresh air and better quality sleep. You might want to try the benefits of earthing (walking barefoot) or a forest bath. Practice floating if you are near water or simply take up meditation again. Buy fresh fruit and veg directly of the farmers around you and live in sync with the seasons.
2.) Productivity
At first it might seem like a contradiction. Why would anyone be more productive in the slow paced environment found in the countryside? It’s quite simple really, if we are constantly exposed to a high performing, high stress environment it ultimately burns us out. Taking regular breaks is essential to keep our overall performance up. Some people need the peace and quiet around them to focus better and come up with new ideas. Others need to deprive themselves of all the temptations to really sit down and get done whatever it is that they have been pushing back for the last months. Some yet again need the stimuli of cities to make things happen but taking some time away in the countryside is where they recharge their batteries to then be fully charged with new energy. Whatever type you are, a rural experience will always have a positive effect on your productivity level in the long run.
3.) Community
How come people living in cities feel lonely? You would think that being surrounded by that many people one should feel connected. Yet, the opposite is true. Loneliness has become a big topic in the recent years and is probably THE reason why coliving has become so popular. Now by booking yourself into a coliving rather than an AirBnB, you are more likely to make new friends and spend time in good company, independent of its location. But with not much going on outside of the coliving space itself, rural colivings tend to be catalysts for community building. There is something about the isolation and the shared experience of something very unique that tends to form stronger bonds between everyone staying.
In cities most people don’t even know their own neighbours, so colivings are like a pleasant island within the city. Now in rural areas usually the opposite is true. You already have an existing community. People know each other, help each other and for the better or worse stick it out together. Rural colivings therefore are a community within a community which kind of doubles the effect and makes you feel that you are being part of something even bigger.
4.) Sustainability
People opening a rural coliving usually have made the transition from city to countryside, looking for a more sustainable way of life. As they are located in nature they tend to make a bigger effort to live in harmony with it. By staying in one of those places you will find it relatively easy to adapt a more eco-frineldy lifestyle yourself. In a city there are millions of choices you can make each day on what to buy and what to do and it can be quite exhausting to figure out the environmental impact your decisions have. You might find yourself calculating the CO² emissions, turning packages and reading the small print to see where stuff comes from, going to an eco-store, paying 3 times the amount and worrying about not having brought your own shopping bag. In rural areas it is actually easier to buy local and fresh products than imported goods. Since there is no fancy café around the corner you don’t get tempted into popping by for a quick takeaway. Things like recycling or chemical free cleaning products are being organised by the coliving. Whether it is water saving devices, green energy or upcycled furniture, it is all provided by the coliving and simply by living there you are decreasing your environmental footprint without personally having to make an effort.
5.) Authenticity
By choosing a rural coliving you are definitely signing up for a more authentic cultural experience. Cities are great and each city has it’s own character and vibe to it but they don’t really reflect the rest of the country. Let’s face it, Berlin, Paris or Barcelona are awesome places but living in them you are not likely to truly capture the essence of Germany, France or Spain.
Living in the countryside is a better way of getting to know a country and deep dive into the culture. With globalisation progressing it is sometimes hard to tell which place you are in. Walking down the high streets of London or Lisbon, it is the same shops and restaurants, the same few brands dominating the landscape. Rural villages are where you can still find those small, family run businesses selling things that aren’t made in China. Cities certainly have a lot to offer in terms of culture. Think of all the museums, theatres and art galleries. However it is all for consumption and entertainment purposes rather than something you live on a day to day basis. Instead of buying a ticket to watch “the Sound of Music”, make use of your location independence and spend a month living in those rolling green hills and learn how to yodel yourself. Ok, so this example might not resonate with you...but you get what I mean by “authenticity”.
Now if you got all excited about the idea of a rural coliving experience and are looking for some recommendations, here are some great places you might want to check out:
